Sandbox One-Act Play Festival 6/13–6/15Sandbox Artists Collective premieres four new short plays by some of Seattle’s most exciting playwrights. Milwaukee, by Scot Augustson, concerns the communication gap between an aging mother and her sons. Elizabeth Heffron’s Dispose of Me explores the renewed familial connections a death can bring about. Openly We Carry, an allegory by Paul Mullin, imagines a gun-toting community where a female prophet makes waves. And things take a surreal turn with Emily Conbere’s Knocking Bird, about a couple that escapes from reality. Times vary. $15. Erickson Theatre, 1524 Harvard Ave.; soapfest.org

Infinity Box Theatre Project: Robots and Artificial Intelligence 6/13–6/15This daring group uses theater to examine the impact of science on humanity. Its multiyear initiative, “Thought Experiments on the Question of Being Human,” kicks off this month with the theme “Robots and Artificial Intelligence,” for which five local scientists teamed with five local playwrights to create and present five new short plays. Each explores how robots will affect our daily life in the near and far future (cue The Jetsons theme song), and the resulting human consequences. Times and prices vary. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.; 206.652.4255; infinitybox.org

Intiman Theatre Festival 6/21–9/15Last year, this fest proved itself by taking risks and having a ton of fun. This year, the impressive local repertory cast includes Tracy Michelle Hughes, G. Val Thomas and Charles Leggett, and the plays broach delicate dinner topics: sex, in Lysistrata (by Aristophanes); money, in We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! (by Dario Fo); race, in Trouble in Mind (by Alice Childress); and politics, made more palatable in the brand-new musical Stu for Silverton (music by Breedlove), about America’s first transgender mayor. Times and prices vary. Intiman Theatre, 201 Mercer St.; 206.441.4178; intiman.org